Ratchet wrenches are generally known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,530,296 describes a unidirectional ratchet wrench consisting of a wrench body, a ratchet, an expanding ring and a plurality of clamping blocks, i.e. pawls. The ratchet is rotatably mounted inside the wrench body and has the pawls evenly spaced around the ratchet to engage the inner surface of the wrench body. Two covers are mounted on opposite openings of a toothed cavity of the wrench body to enclose the ratchet.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,615,693 describes a ratchet including a head and a driving member rotatably received in the head. A plurality of teeth are defined on the inside surface of the head and a plurality of notches are defined on the outer periphery of the driving member. Each notch has a pawl received therein which engages the teeth of the inside surface of the head. A spring ring is mounted to protrusions formed on each of the pawls and pulls the pawl inward toward the driving member.
Still further, U.S. Pat. No. 6,769,330 describes a ratchet wrench including a driving head having an inner peripheral gear, a wheel rotatably engaged in the driving head and having two openings formed in the outer peripheral portion. Two pawls are received in the openings of the wheel and each has a number of outer teeth for engaging with the inner peripheral gear of the driving head, and each has one end for being biased to engage into the end portions of the openings of the wheel by two springs engaging the pawls.
While each of the above-referenced wrenches generally works for their intended purposes, each of the described wrenches relies upon a wire spring that may be difficult manufacture, to assemble, e.g., may require specialized tools, and/or may be prone to failure based upon the size and fragility of the spring itself.
As such, there is a recognized need in the art for an improved ratchet wrench assembly.